Lillo Brancato
A Facebook protest of an upcoming speaking appearance at the Ridgefield Playhouse of a former actor who was once a co-defendant in a murder case will not stop the engagement.
The protest, initiated by former New York City police Detective John McNicholas of Ridgefield, filled the Ridgefield Facebook page over the weekend. McNicholas said he will protest the appearance in person, as well.
Allison Stockel, executive director of the Playhouse, said McNicholas’s protest will not shut down the program, which features Lillo Brancato talking about how he ruined his life with drugs and bad influences.
“Protest is his choice — that’s what makes America America, it’s freedom of speech. I totally have no problem with that,” Stockel said. “This is something the Prevention Council thought was important for students and parents to hear.”
Former actor Brancato shares his cautionary tale on how drugs and alcohol can destroy one’s life at the Ridgefield Playhouse on Wednesday, March 23, at 7:30 p.m.
The event, sponsored by the Ridgefield Prevention Council Family University and underwritten by an anonymous donor, Newport Academy and Silver Hill Hospital, is free and open to the public.
Brancato had a promising career. As a young actor he starred alongside Robert De Niro and Chazz Palminteri in the 1993 film A Bronx Tale. He followed that with roles in Crimson Tide, Enemy of the State and later in The Sopranos, playing Matt Bevilaqua in six episodes.
McNicholas pointed out that a previous Brancato appearance at the Playhouse, in 2014, was canceled. McNicholas objects to Brancato’s appearance because the former actor was convicted of a burglary in New York in which a police officer was murdered. An accomplice was convicted of the murder. He said under New York law he should have been guilty of the murder as well, but a jury split the charges.
Brancato’s previous appearance that was canceled was for a screening of A Bronx Tale. This time he is bringing his cautionary example. Tickets are free but reservations are required; call the box office at 203-438-5795 or visit ridgefieldplayhouse.org.
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